Melinco

I'm having surgery on December 17 and not going back to work until the Monday after Christmas, so 10 days off of work (including the weekends). This should work out great to help get used to the liquid and mushy diet afterwards.

I've got a date with Bruce. He's my new partner. We're going to become acquainted on December 17. I'm very excited for us to become intimate. Just 25 days from tonight, I'll have him inside me. What more could a girl ask for then a strong, flexible, and embracing partner?? :thumbup:

The big thing about the pre-op diet is to shrink your liver. Normally, you'll lose some weight too, but the main purpose is to shrink your liver. So make sure that what you are drinking has few to no carbs in it. My doc says less than 30 carbs a day (preferably closer to zero carbs a day) once I start the pre-op diet. After you get the band and are healed, that's when the serious weight loss will start.

I called the surgeon's office in late August, found out he was having a seminar the second Thursday of September. I went to that. Which, by doing so, got me a free first consult with the surgeon. It took me a while after the seminar to finally complete the paperwork and mail it in so we could set an appointment. My initial consult was on November 2. I then had my psych and deitician consults on November 10, and we set a date this week for December 17. I am self-pay so I don't have to complete any prerequisites that an insurance company may require. I could have sent all my paperwork in earlier, but I knew with my work schedule, I wouldn't be able to have my surgery until Decmeber anyway, thus part of the reason for the delay.

I tried to find the group on my own (without using the link) and couldn't find it.

I was trying to decide what I'm going to do for Thanksgiving. Since we are hosting it, I plan on enjoying it, but not over doing it. I'll start my pre-op diet a week and a half later, so I do want to enjoy one more holiday meal, but not over indulge. Then, for Christmas, I will be in my post-op liquid stage, so I won't be able to enjoy that meal. As much as I enjoy the holiday meals, I want my band and I'll enjoy even more being healthy for future holidays with my family.

My cousin wore my bridesmaid dress to her prom, so the hideous thing got two uses at least. I think I threw that thing away years ago. Either that, or my mom may still have it.

Hi KarynA, I finally have a date, December 17. :-) I asked for the time off today. I told my supervisor that I was going to have surgery and needed a week to recover. He didn't ask me any questions about the type or anything, so I didn't have to say. Phew. I was a bit worried. Now I just need the final confirmation from the surgeon (should have by tomorrow) and we'll be good to go. P.S. By the way, if anyone checks out my blog and wonders why my name there and here don't match, the name I created here is based on a nickname that a friend gave to me - Mel Torme. Also, if you don't want to read about all of our trying to conceive drama, don't read any posts prior to September of this year.

Yes! I have a date!! December 17. That is 29 days away! It's tentative, as the surgeon needs to read over my psych report, but his assistant read it over and she didn't see anything that would cause any problems. We'll confirm the date by the end of the week. I'll need to be at the surgery center at 6:00 a.m., with the surgery at 7:30. I should be done and out of the recovery and on my way home shortly after 12 noon. The surgery center I'll be going to is like two minutes from my house. I'll take off December 17 - 24 off, as we're closed on December 25, of course. So that will give me 10 days at home to recover. I know it will suck for Christmas, but I don't care! I'd rather suck one Christmas and be healthy for all the rest of my Christmases. I'm so excited. How crazy is that, I'm excited to be cut open and go under (well, not crazy about the going under actually). The assistant said that 10 days prior to the surgery, or December 7, to start the extreme low carb diet, so less than 30 grams. So no more carrots, potatoes, bread (which I haven't eaten in a week), Pasta, etc. This of course is to shrink the liver. I'll also go on December 7 for my pre-op appointment to sign all the consent forms (and I'm sure to make payment too). Once I get actual confirmation of the date, I will trigger my financing (401(k) loan, IRA distribution, and Health One Visa loan). Also, I will start buying all the required dietary needs (liquids, etc) and the gas-x strips, etc. Oh, this time is going to fly and crawl at the same time! lol

Oh, I have a great recipe. Tastes a lot like mashed potatoes, without all the carbs. Mashed cauliflower 2 pound head of cauliflower, cut into florets (about 8 cups) 2 tbs. sour cream 2 tbs. heavy cream 1 1/2 tbs. butter Salt & peper to taste Boil cauliflower in salted Water for 10-12 minutes, until tender. Drain. In batches in food processor, process until smooth. Add sour cream, heavy cream, butter and S&P. Serve with your favorite dinner. When I first heard of this recipe, I thought ew, but once I made it I said Yummy! I think the next time I make it I will add a little bit of the dried ranch dressing/seasoning mix to give it a ranch flavor.

Not sure if anyone has posted a recipe for fish tacos, but I love this one. I got it from the Better Homes & Garden cookbook in the Fish chapter. It's yummy! Fish tacos 12 oz tilapia filets, defrosted, rinsed, and patted dry, cut into 3/4 inch strips 1/2 tbs. olive oil 1/4 tsp. cumin 1/8 tsp. garlic powder Mix oil and spices, add fish to coat, then bake in 450 degree F oven for 4-6 minutes, or until flakes with fork. 1.5 cups shredded cabbage or cole slaw mix 2 tbs. mayonaise 1.5 tsp. fresh lime juice Mix mayonaise and lime juice in bottom of bowl, add cabbage, toss to coat. Mango salsa 3/4 cup diced ripe mango or peach 2 green onions, finely chopped 1/2 jalapeno, seeded, diced (or more if you like it spicier) 1/3 orange or red bell pepper, seeded, diced 1/4 tsp. fresh lime zest 1.5 tsp. fresh lime juice (or more to taste) 1/2 tbs. olive oil 1.5 tsp. vinegar (I use apple cidar vinegar) 2 tbs. cilantro, finely chopped (optional) Mix the above ingredients in a bowl. 8 white corn tortillas (may use yellow corn) Take two paper towels, dampen with Water, place tortillas inside, and microwave for 1 minute, or until heated through. Serves 4-6 (but if not banded, serves 2-4) Make the salsa and cabbage mixtures before baking the fish. Take one (or two) corn tortillas, place on plate. Add a bit of the cabbage mixture, then some fish, and top with salsa. Enjoy!

Hi Jachut, I've read many of your posts, and what you say makes a lot of sense. During this time before banding, I'm using the solid food high Protein low carb diet to shrink my liver, rather than as a new "life style" for me. I expect once I get my band and have healed, then I am going to eat everything in moderation (or eat what I can in moderation). The one thing I haven't decided up yet if I'm going to cut entirely from my diet post-band is bread. I think that will be more trial and error than anything else. But for now, it's the high protein low carb diet for me. Oh, and don't worry, I'm still getting lots of veggies in. Just not potatoes. I'm even eating one piece of fruit a day, but no fruit juice, in order to keep my sugar intake low.

I plan on taking a week. That's what my surgeon recommends, so that's what I'm going for.

Hi Jenny, I'm not in Northern Colorado, but in Pueblo. However, I wanted to say hi and welcome to LBT. I'm using Dr. Smith in Pueblo. I've had my initial consult, dietician and psych consults, and now am just waiting for a surgery date. Good luck with your journey!

For me, I drink out of a 16.9 oz water bottle all day, however, I tend to guzzle my water. I think I will have to change up to drinking out of a glass with ice in it. It seems like I sip more using that. Of course, if it didn't have ice it in, I'd probably guzzle, but it's hard to guzzle when you have ice hitting your lips and getting in the way.

I'm self pay and my doctor required it. I met with the psych for about 20 minutes, did about 90 minutes of testing (answering questions on paper) then talked with him for over an hour. In fact, we would have continued talking even more if I didn't have to leave for my dietician consult. He charged $275 for the consult. I think the reason behind it is to see if we have really given due consideration to what we're doing, how we think it will effect us, etc. The tests I took included a medical history (about 10 pages long), alcohol use, drug use, and three or four others. What the psych said to me was that he was really trying to determine if I had the cognitive ability to realize what I'm doing. My consult was like an added bonus as my psych had gotten the band in May of this year, so he was able to give me his own personal experience plus answer questions about the band. Only downside was that he was doing things that my dietician told me I shouldn't (like drinking soda, and eating McDonalds, etc.). Just shop around, find a good price, but also find out how long it will take to get the report to the surgeon. You don't want to be waiting around for weeks on the report.

I have nothing good or bad to say about this outfit as I have had absolutely no dealings with them. My question is about the "free insurance verification." Why would a surgeon (regardless of whether they are from a premiere surgery center or not) charge you to verify if you have insurance coverage or not? If the surgeon is part of the insurance network, there should be no charge whatsoever to verify coverage, and even if they aren't part of the network, you'd think they'd not charge you to verify coverage, since they will most likely be getting paid by the insurance company. This just smells like a scam to me.

Congrats on being banded and finally healed! Have you ever tried Leslie Sansone's Walk away the Pounds videos? They are very low impact. I enjoy these videos because my knees give me problems too. I also really like Water aroebics.

Have any of you who are doing a high Protein / low carb pre-op diet with solid foods noticed that the higher the level of protein, the more fat you intake? I'm not a big fish eater, although I will eat tilapia with no problems, but even if I trim the fat off a pork loin or a steak, or even have a boneless skinless chicken breast, while great in protein, it still has quite a bit of fat. Do any of you find a problem with this? Does your liver still shrink despite the increased intake in fat? Or is it all related to your carb levels? My dietician told me to aim for about 150 grams of carbs a day and 105 grams of protein a day. Does the carb level seem high to you? I'm getting most of my carbs in the way of a piece of fruit, veggies, and one day I did have Pasta, but I haven't had any bread since last Tuesday. I guess my surgeon doesn't want me to do any protein supplements at all.

If you want to control your sodium, because some of those packets of chili seasoning has a lot of sodium in there, you can create your own spice mix really easily. Use cumin, Gebhardt's chili powder, McCormick's chili powder, and if you like it a little spicy, add some cayenne pepper. Use garlic powder, onion powder and black pepper. Then add kosher salt to taste. I always go heavy on the cumin as I love the flavor of it. You might also want to try the fire roasted diced tomatoes (by Del Monte I believe). Those add some really good flavor as well as just a bit of heat, if you get the ones with the peppers added. If you like making your chili with beans, use a combination of pinto beans, chili beans in sauce, and kidney beans. Of course, if you are making a smaller batch, you may not want to use so many beans. I always buy whatever is on sale that day. Also, if you are adding onions or bell peppers to the mix, add them to the meat while you are cooking it so that the onions and peppers can get soft from the fat of the meat. Then drain any excess fat. You can also use ground chicken (try to get the white meat) instead of ground turkey or beef. Sometimes I'll use tomato sauce if it's too thick, but you can always substitute low-sodium V-8 juice instead, which adds additional servings of veggies to your already nutritious (and yummy) chili.

My dietician said to take two Flinstone chewables with iron once I get banded. For now, I'm taking a one a day multi vitamin. As far as how I'm preparing so far: Right now, I'm just doing my pre-op solid food high protein low carb diet. I did buy a new set of scales so I can track my progress. I've got sf puddings and jellos, but they are more for my pre-op than post op. I already have a blender and a food processor. Oh, I did also buy some of the Viactiv calcium chewables. Once I actually have a date, then I'll start buying the foods for after surgery.

Those donuts were calling my name this morning, but I resisted. Then, fudge was brought into the office. Mmmm, fudge. But NO! I stood strong. As I walked by the left over donuts and the fudge sitting on the break room table, and pointed to them both and said No! I want my band more than I want you!

Hi Lalalude, If you come to the Pre-Op lab band surgery Q&A forum each time, and look for the December Bandsters 2009 thread, you will not have any problems finding us. You can always book mark this thread too. If you read back through some of the posts in this thread, it will tell you how to do a ticker. Welcome and good luck!

Ok, I called. They don't have the psych consult yet, plus even if they did, the doctor is out till Monday. I guess I'll go back to being patient! lol

I am so tempted to call the surgeon's office today to see if they have my consult reports yet and if we can set a date! Wouldn't it be wild if they said they could do it this month and not have to wait until next? Although I think next month would be better. I'm cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my family, and I'd like to be able to eat it (although not everything since I've already started my high protein/low carb diet). Hmmm. Okay, I'm going to call them!